


The Fat Kid

by xxpaperflowersxx



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Emotional Hurt, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 07:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11143383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxpaperflowersxx/pseuds/xxpaperflowersxx
Summary: 'I had been 'The fat kid' for as long as I could remember, and i was always bullied.' What happens when Brittany S Pierce moves to New York to escape her tormented past, only to be confronted by the one thing she was running from.





	1. Bad Dream

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a repost from fanfiction.net as some of you may recognise, it's currently a work in progress so I haven't added a chapter amount just yet.
> 
> This is my first time posting to AO3 so let me know what you think :)
> 
> I have the first 9 chapters already written so updates should be pretty consistent. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you guys enjoy it :D

I walk through the halls, shoulders slouched, head down. This is how it was every day. I could feel people’s eyes on me, staring. Judging. At least that’s what it felt like. That’s what it feels like for every overweight person. Like the whole world is staring and judging. 

I had been ‘The fat kid’ for as long as I could remember, and I was always bullied. I never had any friends; everyone was too busy taunting me for that. My lunches were spent in the bathroom and in class I sat by myself. I never even tried to talk to anyone, in fear that I would get harassed even more. 

I was scared. 

Lonely. 

So I kept my head down, my shoulders slouched, and I shuffled along between classes to avoid being noticed. 

Today though, like most days, it didn’t work. 

I felt someone body slam my shoulder and before I could do anything my back collided with the hard metal locker.   
I felt the pain shoot up between my shoulder blades and I raised my head to see what happened. 

“Get out of my way, Tubbers!” 

There standing in front of me were the two people I hated most in the world. They made my life a living hell. What made it worse was that everyone in the school worshipped these two girls, thus making my life an even bigger nightmare. 

Quinn Fabray was the head cheerleader, leader of the celibacy club and HBIC. No one messed with her or questioned anything she did, including the teachers. 

She was the bitch that started all this.   
The girl who, on our first day of high school, pointed and laughed at me in front of everyone.   
I hated her so much it scared me. 

I moved to stand up again, meaning to go on my way, to avoid any other incidents.   
“Whoa, um...did we say she could move Santana?”

I stopped moving and raised my head again, my eyes meeting the cold, hard stare of Santana Lopez.   
“Hell no! Looks like Pillsbury dough girl is trying to roll out of here without our permission. What’s wrong? Is there a buffet somewhere you need to get to?” 

I lowered my gaze again, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to spill onto my cheeks.   
Santana Lopez was the meanest bitch you could ever meet. Quinn had nothing on her. When Santana looked at you it was like she could freeze you with her stare, it was so cold, and in one quick glance you could see just how much she despised you. 

But that wasn’t the worst. Santana had a way with words, making them so fierce they cut you right down to the bone. She knew exactly what to say to everyone to give the maximum amount of pain. It was like a verbal punch in the stomach, and in my five years of high school I had never heard anything but vicious, vicious words leave her mouth, even when she was talking to Quinn. 

“Oh Santana, I think ‘Shamu’ is crying! Or is there just so much grease in you it’s spilling over?”   
I could hear people laughing but I kept my head bowed, trying not to prolong this anymore. 

“Ugh it’s disgusting. Come on Quinn we have practice and I can’t stand to look at her gravy filled face any longer than I already have”   
With that they both left and purposely swung their bags into my head on their way. I sunk even lower into myself, buried my face in my hands and cried. 

I woke in fear, panting for air. It had been a dream. Except it had all been real. Memories of what my life had been like five years ago.   
I pulled my body into a sitting position and looked down at my now slender, toned figure. The girl in my dream was now a figment of the past, but the emotional scars were still raw. 

The dream itself had bought on new tears which I couldn’t prevent from rolling down my now defined cheekbones.   
I was no longer that girl. I was no longer bullied. And how I wished people from school could see me now. 

I’m not ‘The fat kid’ anymore.   
I’m Brittany S Pierce, tall, toned, blonde haired, blue eyed, professional dancer.   
And starting tomorrow I’ll have a new life in New York, away from all the pain of home.


	2. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, heres chapter 2! It's more of a filler chapter so bear with me, the story will start to progress more in the next chapter :)
> 
> Enjoy and let me know what you think!

My bags were packed and my car was loaded, the only thing left for me to do was say goodbye.   
I didn’t have many people to say goodbye to, just my family. My hellish childhood had made sure that I never made any friends, even after I lost all the weight. 

Growing up in Ohio had been one long nightmare and I couldn’t wait for it to end.   
So I hugged my parents goodbye, grabbed Lord Tubbington’s kitty carrier and set off for my 11 hour drive.   
I began my commute along the highway, thinking about what awaits me in New York City. 

I had been offered a place at Julliard a few months ago and considered rejecting it at first, I had never been good with people and although I had lost my extra weight I still felt like people would look at me and judge me.   
It was my mother that finally convinced me to accept the offer. She made me see what an amazing opportunity this was and how it would probably help me with my slight fear of people. 

The following day she found me a therapist that I could go see every week until the move to prepare me. I had tried therapy when I was younger but the doctor always got frustrated with me when I made no progress. 

This doctor was different though, her name was Dr. Holly Holiday. She made me feel like I finally had a friend, she listened to me, she helped build my confidence and most of all, she understood me. She was the first person outside of my family not to judge me.   
When I told her about my offer from Julliard, she made me let her help me find a place to live in the city. She said I would be best finding a place that had a few people already living there so that I would be forced to get to know new people. 

At first I was apprehensive, but then we came across this beautiful apartment, nestled just a few blocks from Julliard. The building was Georgian in style with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and it was wonderfully decorated considering three guys lived there. 

Yeah, that’s right, three guys! 

It was the only downside for me, I wasn’t good with people, especially three, new people, all at once.   
I was fine with the fact that they were boys, I always found girls to be harder to figure out, even though boys tend to be a lot messier around the house. 

But Holly had convinced me that this would be good for me, and I knew deep down that it would.   
That didn’t stop me from being absolutely terrified though.   
Nevertheless I had e-mailed them that same day and they had responded asking if we could set up a video interview via Skype as soon as possible. 

I video called them the next day, introduced myself and Lord T and told them why I was moving out there.   
They had each told me a little about themselves, there was Puck who owned a bar, Sam who sang at party venues and Artie who was studying film and trying to make it as a director. They all seemed like great guys and after an hour and a half of talking they told me they would love for me to be their roommate.   
I was the happiest at that moment that I had ever been, and I finally felt deep down like things could be going right for me. 

I looked up and saw that the next exit was the one I needed to take.   
Pulling off the highway I turned on my SatNav and quickly found my way to my new home. 

Parking outside my new building, I shut off my engine and stepped out of the car.   
I took a moment to just stare at the place I would now call home and I couldn’t help the nervous excitement that rushed through me.   
This was definitely going to be an interesting few years.


	3. Roomates

The moving van arrived not long after I had. 

I walked down the path and up the steps to the front door of my new building. I remembered then that I didn’t yet have a key. 

My eyes searched for the buzzer I knew all apartment buildings had, and when they landed upon it I scanned it for the number to my place. 

My finger rose and hovered over number 3. 

This was it.   
There was no turning back from here.   
Once I pressed that button my new roommates would answer and buzz me into my new life. 

Screw it.   
I didn’t want to turn back.   
I had nothing to turn back to anyway. 

I pushed the button a couple times and waited for the answer. They knew I was arriving today and had promised they would all be there to greet me. 

“Hello?”   
I heard a deep male voice filter out of the speaker. 

“Um...Hi, It’s Brittany.”   
I felt stupid for hesitating and sounding so lame.   
They were going to hate me. 

“Brittany! Hey! Oh...sorry, I’ll buzz you in!”   
I heard the door buzz, signalling it was open and as I made my way to enter the building I heard a voice crackle over the speaker again. 

“Brittany? You still there?”   
I turned back to the buzzer and pressed the button to speak. 

“Yeah I’m here.”   
I released the button as the reply came back. 

“Oh hey, we were just wondering if you needed any help with your boxes?”   
I turned towards the moving van and noticed the movers had already started to just dump my stuff on the sidewalk. Clearly they weren’t going to help! 

I pushed in the button and leaned forwards so they could hear me   
“Um, yeah that would be great if you guys don’t mind.”   
Releasing the button I heard the immediate reply   
“Cool, we’ll be right down!” 

I made my way over to the moving van, smiling politely at the movers as I went. I moved to the back of the van and climbed in picking up one of the boxes with ease and climbing back out of the van.   
The movers looked at me in slight shock, not expecting me to be able to carry the weight of any of my belongings.   
Admittedly, although I was tall I was now very slender so I couldn’t blame them for their misconceptions, but years of training as a dancer and working hard to lose the weight had made me fairly strong despite my tiny frame. 

I have to confess that although I’m still very shy and self conscious, I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish.   
My arms now smooth and toned, my legs strong and muscular and my abs now sculpted and defined.   
The hard work had definitely paid off, it was hard to not feel some sense of pride in myself for being able to turn my life around.   
I placed the box I was holding down on top of another turning around to go back to continue unloading the truck. 

“Brittany!”   
I heard my name and turned towards the building to see three guys coming towards me. 

On the right was a tall Blonde guy with the biggest mouth I had possibly ever seen, he somehow still managed to be incredibly cute and when he smiled at me I couldn’t help but give him a small smile back.   
On the left was a smaller guy in a wheelchair, his hair slicked to one side and his glasses pushed to the top of his nose, he looked sort of out of place with the other two guys and I felt like I would probably get on the best with him.   
In the centre of them both was a muscular looking guy with a Mohawk, he gave me a cocky smirk as they moved towards me and I couldn’t help but feel that he would be the kind of guy to make plenty of inappropriate jokes.   
I was definitely going to have my hands full with these three! 

“Brittany, hey! I saw you carrying that box over there, girls got some muscles, I like that! Allow me to introduce myself, the names Noah Puckerman but everybody calls me Puck.”   
He pointed to his right and introduced the big lipped blondie as Sam, and then to his left as he introduced the smaller boy as Artie. They both waved their hellos and then a slightly awkward silence lingered for a moment before Puck broke it.   
“Right...well, why don’t you let the Puckasaurus here help you with some of those boxes, although I’m pretty sure your guns are bigger than mine!”   
He sent a wink and a smirk my way that would have normally made me feel extremely uncomfortable but I caught on to his teasing tone and felt myself smiling slightly back at him instead.

The guys started to carry in the boxes from the street while the movers and I continued to unload the truck.  
It only took us about an hour to get all of my stuff into the apartment. I grabbed my last box off the sidewalk and made my way into my new building.  
Finding the elevator I pressed the button for our floor and waited while the doors closed and I was lifted towards my new life.  
The doors opened and I stepped out scanning the hallway for my apartment.

“Hey Brittney, we’re down here”  
I heard someone yell to my right. I turned towards the sound and saw the door to apartment three propped open with one of my boxes.

My feet carried me forwards and as I entered into the living room my eyes began to roam around, taking in my surroundings.  
The wall to my right was exposed brick. A sofa, two chairs and a coffee table nestled in front of it, all turned to face the large TV mounted above the fireplace.  
My boxes covered the dark, hardwood floor beneath my feet, making it hard for me to manoeuvre myself into the room. I reached the centre of the apartment and dropped the box I was carrying onto another one.   
Turning to my left I noticed the kitchen area, decorated red and white with undertones of grey from the slate tiles covering the wall behind the stove. A large wooden table rested in the middle of the kitchen, a fresh bowl of fruit placed in the centre of it.  
Spinning towards the top left of the apartment I noticed a small office area. A bookcase rested against one of the walls next to a medium sized oak desk.  
Coming full circle I turned to face towards the living area again and noticed a hallway in the top right of the room leading to what I presumed were the bedrooms and bathrooms.

I smiled to myself. This apartment was definitely my style.   
I suddenly remembered that I wasn’t alone. I looked up to see all three of my roommates staring at me expectantly.  
I smiled towards them,

“This is a great place guys, thanks for helping with my boxes too.”  
They all seemed to release a breath at my words, as though anticipating what I would say about the apartment.  
“Thank god for that! We spent all morning cleaning this entire place because boy genius over here thought it was too much of a bachelor pad for a girl to live in!”   
I looked at Artie and noticed him blushing bashfully at Pucks words.

“I just thought it was the perfect opportunity for us to clean up a little. Honestly it looks like a new apartment, it hadn’t been cleaned since we moved in...2 years ago!”   
Puck looked slightly offended at his words and was about to argue when I decided to beat him to it

“Well it looks great either way. Thanks for trying to make me more comfortable, you really didn’t need to do all that for me, but I appreciate it.”

With that Pucks expression changed and he sent me another smug smirk  
“It was no trouble at all, not for a pretty girl like you! Now, why don’t I show you where your bedroom is?”  
I could hear the not so subtle undertones to his suggestion but chose to ignore them, instead I gave him a small smile and nodded

“Alright then, follow me!”  
He lead me down the hallway that I had spotted earlier, it was decorated just as beautifully as the rest of the apartment, surely they hadn’t decorated themselves, it just didn’t seem plausible.

“So Sam and Artie’s rooms are over this side, along with our bathroom”  
He pointed towards the right wall which had three doors dotted along it.  
“And your bathroom is down the bottom on this side, it’s en-suite to your bedroom so you’ll have all the privacy you need, but in case you ever get lonely, my room is just there, right next door to yours.”  
He sent me a wink and a smirk. I had to laugh at his bold persistence, I knew he only intended it to be a joke but I wondered if deep down he really meant what he was implying.

I laughed at him and blushed slightly, hopefully he would stop making those types of suggestions eventually, but I couldn’t see it happening any time soon.  
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for showing me around, but if it’s alright with you I think I’d like sometime alone, just to get used to everything.”

He sent me a warm smile. He was a good guy deep down, I knew he wouldn’t intentionally make me feel uncomfortable and in that moment I realised that I could most likely count on him.  
“Yeah no problem. It’s good to have you here Brittany, I think you’re gonna fit in just fine with us studs! Let me know if you need anything else, we’re ordering takeout for dinner so just come find us when you’re done.”  
With that he smiled and walked away.

I stood in front of the door to my new room, my hand reached out and grasped the handle. I pushed gently and the door swung open to reveal a rather large bedroom.   
I was fairly shocked at the size of the room, it was much larger than I had imagined and definitely bigger than my room back home.

My bed had been bought here a few days ago and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the boys had put it together for me.   
It lay against the far wall in the room, some of my boxes littered the floor. I moved around them and flung myself onto the bed, looking up towards the ceiling. 

A feeling of happiness spread through me, it felt right me being here, and I couldn’t help but think that Puck had been right; I would fit in here, with them. 

I finally felt like I belonged somewhere, and it was the best feeling ever!


	4. You can run, but you can't hide

I walk through the halls, shoulders slouched, head down. This is how it was every day. I could feel people's eyes on me, staring. Judging. 

My feet carried me towards my locker, my hand meeting the lock to input my combination.  
I pulled open the door and hurried to remove the books from my bag I no longer needed. Placing them back inside, I easily found the ones for my last few classes. 

I could still feel everyone looking, their stares penetrating my back like fire. 

I was so close to getting away without any problems, for once. 

But I hadn’t noticed them behind me.  
Hadn’t noticed what they were doing. 

I could smell the burning, and then all at once the fire I had felt on my back was all too real.

I spun around quickly and met the hate filled stare of Santana Lopez; lighter in hand, flame flicking up to lick at the air.  
She had been singeing my hair. Literally burning me.

Her smirk grew at the horrified look on my face as I grasped at my hair to assess the damage she had caused.  
I felt the anger bubble up inside me as I looked at my now frazzled ends. But there was nothing I could do to her, and she knew that. It only fuelled my anger more. 

“W-what are you d-doing?” I stuttered out, I could already feel the tears of frustration and humiliation running down my cheeks.

“Oh I’m sorry ‘Chunk’, did I accidentally catch you with my lighter there? I deeply apologise, I was just trying to light my morning cigar, keeps my voice all deep and sultry, don’t you agree?”

I was still angry. But now I was even angrier at myself, for blushing.  
I’m ashamed to admit that as much as Santana bullied me, I found her attractive. In my defence you would have to be blind not to, everyone in school knew she was the most beautiful person in our godforsaken town.

I looked away from her, hoping she wouldn’t spot the deep red colour rising from my neck onto my plump face.  
Of course I had no such luck.  
Her smirk grew ever wider, her eyes dancing with mischief and evil. 

“Anyways, sorry about that, total mistake! Oh, wait, some of it’s still lit! Hold still I’ll get it.”  
I stopped breathing as she leaned towards me, her face so close that I had to close my eyes. I felt as though my chest might explode if I continued to look at her that closely. Those deep chocolate eyes holding so much depth it was heartbreaking, to see them filled with hate.  
My cheeks flushed even more and I felt the heat spread throughout my body having her in such close proximity. 

I gasped for air as I felt the heat immediately extinguished.  
The freezing ice slamming against my face and giving instantaneous brain freeze.  
My mouth hung agape in shock, gasping for air.  
She had slushied me.

I had been so busy paying attention to her that I had forgotten about Quinn standing right next to her. She had been holding the slushy the entire time. 

My hands flew up to wipe the ice from my eyes, the stinging pain bringing on fresh tears.  
I dragged my hands down my face, removing as much of it as possible, my tongue darting out to instinctively lick my lips.

Cherry flavour.

A favourite choice of Santana’s.  
I wasn’t sure if it was because it was her preferred flavour or because it stained the most.  
My guess was the latter. 

I could hear their laughter and feel the stares of everyone in the hallway.

“That’s it, all out! I think I got it all, right Quinn?” the malice in her voice dripping from every word.

I didn’t wait to hear Quinn’s response, my feet moved instinctively.  
Rushing away from my locker, I pushed passed both of them, my pace turning into as much of a sprint as I could manage.  
I burst through the bathroom door, dashing into the closest stall I slammed the door closed, bolted the lock and sat huddled into myself on the toilet seat.  
My feet rested on the seat, my head buried in my knees and my arms tightly wrapped around my legs. 

I let go and felt the salty tears stream down my face onto the denim of my stretched out jeans.  
My sobs wracked my body, shaking me back and forth as I tried to control my breathing.

I hated them. But even more so, I hated myself.  
This was a regular occurrence for me, and I only really had myself to blame. I had let myself get like this. I was the one who couldn’t stop eating.

I heard the door to the bathroom open.  
My breathing stopped.  
I didn’t need to hear them speak, I knew who it was.  
I may have been taunted by the whole school, but only two people would be cruel enough to follow me in here after what had just happened.  
I heard their feet move and pause outside the stall I was in.

“Hey Stretch marks, we know you’re in there!” Santana tormented from the other side of the door.

“Is this like your favourite place or something? I know you eat your lunch in here, what is it easier to be bulimic that way? Oh wait no, you definitely digest all of your food don’t you tubbs?” finally Quinn joined in on the abuse; she never was as witty as Santana though.

“So can I ask you a question? This one’s really been bugging me! How many people exactly, have mistaken you for the endangered white rhino?” her words always cut me the deepest, it was her specialty. Santana had been raised on insults apparently, I found that hard to believe though.

I heard Quinn laugh, and then there was a heavy pounding on the door.  
“C’mon Butterball, you can’t stay in there forever! You can run, but you can’t hide!” and as those words left Santana’s mouth, I knew they were true. 

I gripped myself even tighter and couldn’t stop the sobs that left my mouth. I placed my hands over my ears to block out the noise of them outside and rocked myself back and forth, my mind desperately trying to transport me to a different place. 

I felt something furry tapping at my face, my heavy eyes opening to see my new room. I looked over to see Lord Tubbington sitting above me, trying to wake me for his morning feed no doubt.

Another bad dream.

I sighed to myself. I had accepted long ago that these would be a regular occurrence; there was just no stopping them, no matter how much therapy I had.

I forced myself to smile up at Lord T, he didn’t need to see me so down.  
Pulling back the sheets, I dragged myself out of bed, my feet relishing at the cosy carpet they were met with, a welcome change from the cold, hard wood floor of my old bedroom.  
I pulled open my door, Lord T racing off in front of me, the only time he ever moves quickly.

Moving into the kitchen I noticed the trash can filled with empty beer bottles. The boys had insisted on having a mini party with just the four of us last night to give me a proper welcome into their world.  
I had refrained from drinking, knowing how it usually made people, I didn’t want to get too loose lipped and start telling them all about my deep, dark past. That, plus the fact I had never had a drink, made it a definite no-no for me.  
Having no friends growing up sure could ruin your rites of passage. No friends equals no parties, and no parties equals no chance to experiment with alcohol.  
The boys however had gone all out. They practically couldn’t stand by the end of the night.  
It was safe to say that I wasn’t expecting to see any of them for at least a good few hours, and for that I was glad.  
I hadn’t had chance to really look around my new home yet, to really be by myself in my new place, and I needed that.  
It had all been pretty overwhelming so far.

I made my way towards the kitchen and found Lord T patiently sitting by his food bowl.  
“You’re so good, why can’t you just be human so we could be friends? I think we’d make great friends don’t you T?” I cooed at him as I stroked behind his ear, a little sadness evident in my voice.  
He peered up at me his head flopped to the side. I knew that look.  
“Okay, okay! I’m getting your food now.”

I moved away from him and towards the cupboard I had put his food in yesterday. Filling his bowl, I placed it back down in front of him and watched as he hungrily devoured it in mere seconds.  
I giggled to myself, he was so cute sometimes.

My eyes roamed the cupboards looking for my own breakfast. Landing on the muesli I sighed in defeat. It tasted like absolute shit, but it had helped me shed all that extra weight. 

Grabbing the box, a bowl and the milk, I sat at the kitchen island, my hands busy preparing my meal.  
I spooned the cereal into my mouth as I pondered what to do today. My classes at Julliard weren’t starting for another three weeks, so I was going to have plenty of time to get used to the city before then. 

My mind drifted to the stack of boxes still loitering my bedroom floor. That had to be my first task. The boxes needed to be emptied for the mere fact they held my clothes, and I needed something to wear today.  
Finishing off my breakfast, I cleaned what I had used and made my way back towards my room.  
I felt defeated just looking at the pile in front of me.  
I sighed, It had to be done whether I wanted to or not.  
I found my purse from yesterday and rummaged inside in search of my iPod. Plugging in the headphones I put it on shuffle and placed it into the pocket of my pyjama pants.  
It wasn’t fair of me to blast music away while the boys slept, but there was nothing wrong with me having a private jam session while I unpacked.

As soon as the music filled my ears I was lost. It always did this for me, transported me to another world and made even the most mediocre of tasks bearable.  
I have no idea how long I stayed in that world, unconsciously moving about the room unpacking my things, but when I felt a small tap on my shoulder I spun away from the last box, my chest having a mini heart attack.

“Oh my god Puck, I think you almost killed me!” I breathed out, panting hard.

A smirk graced his face, “Yeah, that’s what she said” he winked at me.

A look of confusion fell on my face “That’s what who said?”

He laughed to himself, not answering my question just shaking his head in amusement.  
“Never mind! Those were some killer dance moves you had going on. I didn’t know it was possible to dance and unpack at the same time.”

I blushed at being caught, I usually never let anyone see me dance other than my instructors and people in class.

“Anyway, I just stopped by because there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” He said with a smile  
I looked up at him in confusion again, I didn’t see anyone.  
He motioned behind him towards the door, “She’s just putting her coat down... Oh wait, here she is” he announced as the door was pushed open further.  
I could only make out a small frame, my view of this new persons face obscured by Puck’s towering body.

He turned towards them, “Hey baby, I’d like you to meet my new roommate Brittany” his arm gesturing towards me.  
“And Britt I’d like you to meet my girlfriend...” he announced as he stepped to the side, my eyes meeting hers. 

My breath caught in my throat. 

I couldn’t breathe.

Deep chocolate eyes stared intently back at me, no hint of recognition there.  
But it was unmistakable. I had seen those eyes before. That long , dark, flowing hair. That bronzed, olive skin. Those plump, rosy lips.  
And though he did, Puck didn’t need to finish his sentence. Because I knew that the girl standing before me, in my new room, in my new apartment, in my new life, was...

“...Santana.”


	5. The New Brittany

My head was spinning, or maybe it was the room.

I dragged air raggedly through my mouth but it was no use, I couldn’t breathe.

I could hear faint voices, yelling at each other, but it was unclear to me what was being said.

All I could hear was the blood pulsing in my ears and throughout my body. 

I was having a mini panic attack and no-one seemed to notice!

I could feel that my body was still standing upright and I could still faintly see the two figures that stood before me through my hazy eyes.

I strained my ears, trying intently to listen to what was being said, but all I could hear was the echo in my head of what Puck had said right before I started to feel this way;  
“…and Britt I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Santana.” 

It had felt like a hard blow to the stomach the first time he uttered those words and with every repeat in my mind it was like a million aftershocks.

I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself. If either of them saw me like this they wouldn’t know what the hell was wrong with me, for all they knew I was just meeting Puck’s girlfriend for the first time and I would have no way of explaining my current behaviour. 

I tried to focus on my breathing, in and out, in and out. I felt my body begin to return to normal, but as soon as I opened my eyes, and my now unclouded lenses landed upon her tiny frame, I felt the panic bubble up inside of me again.

I saw her throw out her hand towards Puck, as if to end the argument they were currently having, and then her eyes focused in on me. 

I must have still been a little light headed because it seemed as though they softened just slightly when they landed upon my face and then something I had never expected happened, she smiled at me. 

I was so shocked that I almost missed that she had also extended her hand towards me while introducing herself. I hadn’t heard a word of what she had just said to me and I was in so much astonishment that I took her hand in mine and shook it lightly, breathing out a quiet “Hi…” 

She gave me a strange look, not quite understanding my current state. I must have looked like a crazy person right now, but I couldn’t help it. She gave a sideways glance to Puck, as if to ask him what was going on, but he was completely oblivious to the situation and just beamed a huge smile in my direction.

I shook my head to remove the cloudiness and gave her a sheepish smile before releasing her hand. She was staring at me intently with confusion written all over her face, I could tell she was trying to figure me out and for some strange reason I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her own. 

“This is awesome, I’m psyched you guys got to meet so soon. You’re probably gonna be best friends now huh? Hey Britt, Santana here works mostly at night, so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind showing you around New York during the day, and maybe keep you company while us studs are hard at work, right babe?”  
Pucks voice shook me from my leering and I gulped, what was I doing?! 

I saw Santana look at him, her eyes piercing daggers into his.   
“Uh, yeah, I can show you around. I mean if you want? I’m not the best tour guide though; I’m pretty cynical when it comes to all that touristy bullshit, which Puckerman knows! But if you don’t mind seeing the real New York and possibly hearing me complain about the statue of liberty then we’ll get along just fine!”

I listened to Santana’s reply and felt myself nodding to her questions. There was no way in hell I wanted to be dragged around this strange new city by the girl that made my high school life miserable, but how was I supposed to say that. 

I could feel the panic rising in me again so I quickly excused myself and rushed towards the bathroom.  
The last thing I saw before I left my room was the confusion all over Santana’s face.

***

I stayed in the bathroom for at least half an hour, god knows what they thought I was doing in there, but I managed to play it off by saying I hadn’t been feeling well. 

Santana stayed for another couple of hours but I hadn’t seen much of her, her and Puck seemed to be confined to the four walls of his bedroom. 

They were out of sight, but definitely not out of hearing range, and my god they were loud. 

It was weird for me, I didn’t know why, but it didn’t feel right and I felt a strange sensation growing in my stomach as each second passed. 

When the noises finally stopped I felt my stomach slowly begin to unknot itself, I guess I was just feeling uncomfortable at being in that situation, the other guys seemed unfazed by it though, I guess they had gotten used to in over the years.

That got me thinking, I wonder just how long Puck had been with Santana, had he known her during high school or had they met after? Who was I kidding, I didn’t care, it was none of my business!

I looked up from my position on the sofa to see Sam walking towards me, two controllers in his hands.

“So you look pretty lonely over here all by yourself and I figured you might wanna get your ass kicked at Tekken. Wha’dya say?”

He gave me a goofy smile and handed one of the controllers to me as I nodded my head. 

I probably looked nothing like a gamer to Sam or any other person for that matter, but the truth is that having no friends while growing up gives you plenty of time to play Xbox, and boy had I used that time wisely! 

Tekken also happened to be a favourite of mine, this poor kid was about to get the crap kicked out of him. Virtually of course. 

I started off lightly on the guy, the odd win here and there could be played off with ‘beginners luck’ but by game 15 I was in my element and Sam had no idea what had hit him.

I finished him off with a specialised combo and looked over at him to see him staring at me in disbelief.

“Okay, I figured you just pick things up really easily or something, but that last combo was masterful! Admit it Pierce, this isn’t the first time you’ve played is it?”

I looked at him with a coy smile  
“I may have owned an Xbox… and every edition of this game while growing up.”

He looked at me in further astonishment, lost for words  
“I guess I just figured, I mean, you don’t look like the gaming type. At all!”

I smiled at him and chuckled softly  
“Don’t judge a book by its cover Sammy-boy!”

He smiled back at me and nodded his head while laughing in disbelief

I couldn’t believe how comfortable I already felt in this new environment. It usually took me weeks, even months, to get used to new people, but here I was joking around with Sam like I’d known him for years.

It was a welcome change for me, maybe I could finally begin to get my life back on track.

With that thought, Pucks bedroom door opened and out walked my past. Santana to be exact.  
She walked over to couch and sat down on the opposite side of me to Sam.  
“Are you bothering our new friend here Troutymouth?”

She spoke to Sam in a tone that I was so familiar with, I felt myself recoil from it, leaning my body further away from her.

I looked up at Sam and noticed the hurt on his face even though he was trying to hide it.  
“You can be a real bitch sometimes you know Santana!”  
Sam spat back at her, and stormed off the couch into the kitchen.

“some people are so touchy”  
She spoke to me, trying to make light of the situation

I focused my gaze back upon her  
“I was having fun with him, we’re friends, he could have stayed, I didn’t mind him being here. He wasn’t bothering me.”

She looked at me intently, and shook off my response with a wave of her hand  
“You don’t need friends like him Britt-Britt, he’s kinda weird! Besides its totally obvious that he does not wanna be friends with you!”

I didn’t understand, what did she mean? Sam was the one that came over to me, he had been nothing but nice to me since I got here, of course he wanted to be my friend!  
“what are you talking about? Sam’s great, and we have things in common, why wouldn’t he want to be my friend?”

She looked at me in disbelief, like I was missing the point  
“What I meant was, Sam doesn’t just want to be your friend! He so has the hots for you, fish lips has no game whatsoever, it’s so obvious it’s painful! But if that’s what you’re into, go for it. I was just trying to spare you from those awful moves of his.”

I shook my head at her, she couldn’t have been more wrong. I had only known Sam for a couple of days. We were just friends! I didn’t understand why Santana was being so weird about everything.  
“We’re just friends. I don’t see him that way and vice versa, we just like to hang out.”

Her eyes showed that she didn’t believe me, but she nodded her head anyway  
“well alright then, whatever you say Blondie”

I felt my blood boil at her, how dare she assume such things and not even apologise for them. And who did she think she was, first she calls me Britt-Britt and now Blondie?! For all she knew I had only known her for the past few hours, and she was sat here like we were old friends, she clearly had some sort of mental issue!

I did not, in any way, want to be her friend. If there was a way for me to never see her again I would take it right now. But it wasn’t possible, she was with Puck. 

If I wasn’t careful this could turn into a new chapter of hell for me, and I couldn’t let that happen. I had left Ohio for a reason, my past was meant to stay there, this was meant to be my new life, who the hell did she think she was to ruin that for me?!

I couldn’t let her. If I couldn’t leave my past in Ohio I could at least leave my old self, I could still be the new Brittany. And this version of myself isn’t going to let her ruin my life again.

No, this time it’s my turn to ruin hers. If she’s going to be in my life now I can at least take advantage and get my revenge. 

Maybe this whole thing could work in my favour. 

Maybe this could be what I’ve always needed.

A chance to get my own back.

I smiled to myself on the inside as I looked into her deep chocolate eyes. So unsuspecting, so unknowing.

The smug look on her face did nothing but fuel the fire inside of me, all the rage from my childhood was bought back to the surface and as I stared her in the eye I couldn’t help but think, ‘It’s on, Bitch!’


End file.
